While The Mother Is Out
by bjames238
Summary: So . . . Karen left for Italy in season 1 right? Well . . . what if she doesn't come back for five years? What could change in Tree Hill by then? Main couple is LP but others will make appearances!
1. Prologue: When It All Changed

**While The Mother Is Out**

_One Tree Hill_ A.U. Season 1 Leyton/Browen/Naley/Breyton & Laley friendship

**Prologue: When It All Changed**

It was exactly one week after his mom left for Italy and Lucas Scott sat brooding at his usual table at lunch with a book: "The Winter of Our Discontent" by John Steinbeck. He loved his mom and he was glad she was finally doing something for herself . . . but it didn't mean he wasn't going to miss her until she got back.

"Hey stranger." He smirked, recognizing the voice. He set the book down and looked up as Peyton Sawyer sat down beside him. "You've kinda been missing in action since your mom left." She pulled out her sketchbook and opened to a new page.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I've been hanging out with Keith and helping with the cafe," Lucas apoligized.

"No big deal," Peyton waved her hand, taking a black marker out of her bag. "Brooke's got a new boytoy so I've had to play the "supportive friend" role."

"Sounds like fun," Lucas winced. He'd been there a couple of times with Haley.

"Not really," Peyton sighed, tracing lines on the paper. "It's that new senior that just transferred . . . apparently he's "man candy made to order" or whatever according to Brooke."

Lucas chuckled and she joined in, "That's Brooke for you."

"Don't I know it?" Peyton laughed, "Been that way since 1st grade when she noticed that boys were different from girls."

"Listen, are you doing anything tonight?" Lucas asked. "Keith has to work and Haley's got some tutor session thing so I was wondering if you wanted to hang out?"

"Sure why not. Brooke's got a date with senior boy anyway," Peyton nodded.

"Sounds good, I'll pick you up later around 6?" Lucas said.

"I'll be there," Peyton said. She looked at her watch. "Grr . . . cheer practice. Gotta go!" She stuffed her things back in her backpack and stood up. "I'll be seeing you!"

"Yeah see you later. Have fun," He teased. She rolled her eyes, smiling. "Say hi to Brooke for me!" She nodded and walked smiled, picking up his book and going back into Steinbeck's wonderful words.

~*~

"Ow . . ." Lucas groaned as he awoke, a splitting pain present in his head. He didn't dare open his eyes . . . that would just make it hurt worse. Wait, why did his head hurt? He must have bumped it during the night . . .

. . . or so he thought until he heard a very feminine "ouch" from beside him. He risked possible further pain and opened his eyes. "Gah!" He screamed . . . she did too. He pushed backward and fell on the floor. "What are you doing in my room?" Ow . . . he shouldn't have shouted so loud. He held his head.

"Your room? This is _my _room!" She shouted back. Again, too loud. They were both holding their heads. It was then that Lucas looked around. The art on the walls, the red paint on the walls, the computer with a screensaver of a freaky-looking drawing of a girl with spiky hair . . .

This definitely wasn't his room. It was Peyton's room.

He then looked down and found that he was not wearing any clothes . . . none at all. He looked over and saw his pants and pulled them on. Upon looking up-and quickly looking down-it seemed as if Peyton wasn't wearing any either. She hastily pulled up the blanket around herself.

"So . . . it seems pretty obvious what happened last night," Lucas observed.

"Do you even remember anything from last night? Picking me up even?" Peyton really sounded hungover.

"No," He said. Wow, he sounded really hungover too.

"That makes two of us," Peyton groaned, frustrated, and plopped back on the bed. "God this is such a Brooke thing to do!!!"  
"What?" Lucas raised his eyebrow.

She turned her head, "Sleeping with someone I barely know!"  
"Oh," Lucas said. "So . . . do you remember what happened last night? The last thing I remember is talking to you at school earlier . . ."

Peyton sat up, crinkling her eyebrows. "Hmm . . . I vaguely recall something about going to the bookstore and a bar . . . I really have no idea how we got from one to the other though." Lucas ran his hand through his hair. "Don't ask me how we got here . . ."

The two were silent after that. Gradually they both over the next half hour found their clothing strewn around the house and got dressed. On his way out, Peyton stopped him at the door. "Luke, don't you think we should talk about this?"

"Do you regret it?" He asked. She shook her head. "Good . . . 'cause I don't either. I told you, Peyton, I want everything with you." Peyton was speechless. "I'll be seeing you . . ." She smiled—god he loved that smile—and he left. Things were definitely looking up.

~*~

Later that day at school Lucas met Haley near the picnic tables at school. She was sitting there with a textbook and a notebook writing something down. He pulled a water bottle out of his back pack and took a drink as he sat down.

"So . . . what'd you do last night?" Haley asked, breaking the silence.

Crap, Lucas thought. What should I tell her? He looked down a the bothing. "Nothin'. You?"

"Nothin'," Haley responded.

Nah . . . she was his best friend and he wanted to talk about it with her. "I kinda hung out with Peyton. And actually . . . we slept together."

"What?" Haley said.

"While we were drunk," He added. Hence the water . . . hopefully it would make his head stop pounding.

"Wow," Haley chuckled, "Slow night for you. What happened?"

"Well . . . we went out as friends and it—kinda escalated," Lucas told her.

"Yeah, sounds like." Haley laughed. "You and Peyton Sawyer. Please."

"What?" Lucas said, "Is that so strange?"

"Yeah, it is," Haley was still laughing.

"You know, she's different than people see," Lucas told her, "You of all people should understand that." He hated how everyone judged her because she was friends with Brooke and used to date Nathan.

Haley's face got serious, "I've been kissing Nathan."

"If I told you not to do that anymore would you listen?" Lucas spoke as calmly as he could without blowing up at her. In no way did he want his best friend kissing his ass of a brother.

"Would you?" Haley challenged.

"Probably not," they both said that the same time.

"Yeah . . ." Haley laughed, "So . . . what about Peyton?"

"Yeah you can kiss her if you want!" Lucas teased.

"I'm serious," Haley said.

"I think I'm really falling for her," Lucas said slowly.

"You deserve to be happy," Haley said.

"You too," Lucas replied. He was quite sure he'd be happy with Peyton.

To Be Continued . . .

Author's note: Thoughts? Anyone?


	2. Chapter 1: Absolutely Radiant

**While The Mother Is Out**

_One Tree Hill_ A.U. Season 1

**Chapter One: Absolutely Radiant**

"Hey best friend!"  
Peyton smiled as Brooke skipped happily toward her and sat down at the picnic table across from her. "You're happy." Peyton observed of Brooke. "Did you do something slutty?"

"Am I that transparent?" Brooke giggled. "Senior boy certainly knows how to deliver . . ."

"Ew . . . I don't wanna know," Peyton scrunched her face . . . but at the same time she was thinking about Lucas.

"Hang on . . . you're not fooling me," Brooke stared her blonde friend down, smiling. "You're glowin' P. Sawyer."

"W-what? No I'm not," Peyton looked around, trying to avoid Brooke's gaze. She couldn't stop smiling.

"You so totally are!" Brooke's eyes were wide and she gasped. "You went out with Lucas last night!" Brooke paused a moment. "You _so_ did it!"

"N-no," Peyton shook her head. "No we didn't."

"You totally did!" Brooke giggled. "I knew it wouldn't take long!"

"Brooke, keep it down!" Peyton rolled her eyes. Other students were starting to stare at them.

"Oh my god!" Brooke squealed. "You two are going to be so cute together!" Peyton gave her a look. "What? I can totally see it. You're both so . . . broody!" Brooke giggled. "You'll have blonde broody babies together!"

"Yeah, not anytime soon," Peyton _so_didn't wanna go there. Just because Lucas and Nathan's mothers had them young didn't mean she wanted to follow in their footsteps.

"Well, duh!" Brooke chuckled. She held on to Peyton's arm like a small child. "You and me'll rule the school. You've got Lucas . . . the hottest Scott reject. And I've got Owen!"

"Owen?" Peyton said.

"Senior boy," Brooke stated, as if it was obvious. "Geez, P. Sawyer, pay attention." Peyton shrugged. "Plans for tonight?"

"I dunno . . . I haven't talked to Luke yet today," Peyton said.

"Owen and I are going to Nathan's party tonight at the beach house. Wanna double it?" Brooke said.

"I'll think about it," Peyton sighed. The party-scene wasn't really her thing . . . she mostly went 'cause she was dating Nathan. Now . . . who knew.

"Okey-dokey!" Brooke smiled. "I've gotta meet Owen for a mid-morning makeout session. I'll see you later!" The bubbly brunette grabbed her bag and ran off.

~*~

Lucas snuck behind Peyton in the hallway and kissed her on the cheek. "Hi blondie." She turned, a smile present from ear to ear, and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You look absolutely radiant today."

Peyton blushed, "You're none too shabby yourself."

"I've been thinking about you all morning," Lucas kissed her. "So I hear there's a party tonight."

"Yeah, Brooke wants to double with Owen." Peyton told him, "Nathan's hosting it."

Lucas sighed. "Haley's really getting serious with him. I'm worried about her."

"Well . . ." Peyton took a deep breath. "When I dated Nathan he was nothing but a jerk . . ."

"That's my point!" Lucas said.

"But . . ." Peyton said. "But now . . . I think he really likes her, Luke."

"People don't just change like that. He's going to hurt her," Lucas said.

"People change all the time, Lucas. Just look at me," Peyton said. "Before I met you I was miserable. I hated life and everyone in it. But now . . ." She smiled. "Just look at me, I can't stop smiling!"

Lucas laughed, "You are adorable when you smile."

"See?" Peyton said. "Just give him a chance. If he wants to change I think he and Haley could be really happy together . . . just like us."

Lucas took a deep breath and thought it out for a moment. He really hoped Peyton was right . . . because he wanted his best friend to be as happy as he was. But there was still a part of him that was skeptical. "We'll see . . ."

"That's the spirit!" Peyton kissed him. "So . . . about this party? Are we going?"

"Um . . . I guess we could go for a little while," Lucas relented. What could it hurt?

**~*~**

It wasn't two minutes after Peyton and Lucas stepped into the beach house when all hell broke loose. It was their first time out as an official couple . . . and everyone was taking note of that. The blonde moody cheerleader who used to date Nathan Scott was arm in arm with the broody illegitamate son of Dan Scott and Karen Rowe. Peyton hated all of their stares . . . but she wasn't going to let that stop her from loving Lucas. She'd been in the spotlight for a long time while dating Nathan . . . she could handle it again.

They continued to walk through the crowded mass of nosy teenagers when Peyton noticed Brooke sitting in a corner by herself in the kitchen. She turned to Lucas. "You go ahead. I'm gonna go get in the bathroom line."

He nodded and kissed her. "Sure, babe. I'll go find Haley and meet you in the living room later."

They unhooked their arms and went their seperate ways. Peyton went into the kitchen and sat down on the floor beside Brooke. The normally bubbly brunette was crying softly, her face covered by her hair. After a few seconds, Brooke rested her head on Peyton's shoulder. "Hey best friend." Brooke's voice was small.

"Hi," Peyton responded. "Where's Owen?"

Brooke whimpered. "Not here."

"That doesn't sound good," Peyton whispered. "Did you two have a fight?"

"He said he didn't wanna go to a stupid junior's party. He wanted to go to his house 'cause his parents are gone for the week," Brooke sobbed.

"Oh . . ." Peyton sighed. He was one of _those_ guys.

"Yeah . . ." Brooke sniffled. "But I really wanted to come and see you guys."

"Maybe you're better off then," Peyton said.

"I _really _liked him," Brooke cried into Peyton's shoulder.

"If he's worth it, he'll apologize," Peyton observed. "If not . . . then maybe it's time to move on."

Brooke sat up, rubbing her eyes and pushing her hair back. ". . . you're probably right, P. Sawyer."

"You gonna be okay?" Peyton asked Brooke.

Brooke took a deep breath, wiping her eyes. "You always take care of me."

"Come on, B. Davis," Peyton pulled the both of them up. "Let's go meet Luke and Haley and Nathan and have some fun."

"Lucas and Nathan? At the same party?" Brooke said. "This should be interesting."  
"Yeah," Peyton sighed, "We'll see how it goes."

"I need a drink," Brooke groaned.

"Amen to that," Peyton sighed.

To Be Continued . . .

Author's Note: So? How was the 2nd chapter? How do you think the rest of the party will go? I would love to hear what you think!


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